People are always trying to improve themselves and that is a good thing. But much of the effort goes nowhere and even when there is some improvement, it can be an empty victory because there is no joy in it or no lasting spiritual value in the change.

The key to real change is seeing that a new creation has come. That changes everything. This is huge. The wisdom of this world is focused on trying to improve the old creation but since there is a new creation, all that “wisdom” is useless. Those who try to analyze the natural mind in order to help people be better people are wasting their time and the time of those who think that is the answer.

Religion is blind to the new creation. So is Psychology. They both are branches from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Two branches from the same tree.

Jesus said that when the leaders are blind and they seek to lead the blind, then they both shall fall into the ditch. They both miss it and it is a mess. Many preachers seem to think they need to get believers saved or “right with God” every Sunday. Because they do not “see” that the work of Jesus brings a rest because His work of union with Himself is finished.

We are in Him and He is in us and as He is so are we in this world now, if we are believers. All that remains for the believer is a gradual renewing of the mind to a spiritual understanding of what “already is” and the final redemption of the body, upon leaving the body, when the mortality of the body shall put on the immortality of a son or daughter of God. With the renewal of the mind the new creation is manifested as we put on the deeds of the new man.

To see the new creation requires a revelation by the Spirit of God and faith. Religion has neither and Psychology has no clue. The truth is in the Tree of Life. The heavenly tree. Jesus Himself.

The truth has been there all along. We just could not see it. Jesus said if we continue with Him that eventually we would come to know the truth. The truth that can set all people free, if they will believe. The unbeliever has no part in this.

We are forgiven and Everlasting Love has made us new, just like Him, and together with Him we live now and forever.

That is the amazing final truth that changes everything and brings real change.

God’s mind works in concentric circles and His creation is a manifestation of the way His thoughts work. From the huge swirling galaxies to the tiniest molecules with neutrons and protons we see the signature of God in all that has been made in circles within circles. Wheels within wheels the prophet saw as he beheld the glory of God in the Spirit. Concentric circles are circles that all have the same common core. That common core in all that God has made and done and will do is the Son. All things were made by Him and through Him and for Him. The Word made flesh was with God and is God. His name is Jesus.

Man’s mind was corrupted by Satan when he ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Man’s mind was re-wired to think in terms of concepts of right and wrong and he was deceived to think he could be like God without God with this mere knowledge. If we are a believer, God in Christ has restored our minds to think like He thinks. To see the truth or the reality as He sees reality. Jesus said to Pilate that for this purpose He came into the world: To bear witness to the truth or the reality. We now have the mind of Christ. The Spirit is renewing the believer’s mind to see Jesus as the center of all things and all concepts. Jesus is truly the way, the truth and the life, as He said. Paul wrote that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him. We now know right from wrong because we know the Father through Jesus. To know Him is life. Whatever is like God is good and whatever is not like God is evil. We now live by Him who lives within us.

The enemy wants to move us away from the simplicity and centrality of Jesus to mere knowledge of concepts thereby weakening the personal relationship with Jesus Himself. The letter kills but the Spirit gives life. That applies not only to the law but to any mere knowledge of just concepts or precepts apart from a personal revelation and relationship with Jesus Himself by the Spirit.

There is a subtle move in some “grace churches” to proclaim more of a concept of grace than to proclaim the person of Jesus Himself. There is much praise for “the message of grace” but the person of Jesus is not being revealed in power so that faith in Him personally is not being strengthened. The result has caused the true grace of God found only in Jesus to be distorted. Grace in these churches is now being explained as an acceptance for same-sex relationships and marriages as something that is pleasing to God; or as a doctrine that means all are saved, or will be saved, and all are going to Heaven; or as being inclusive of all people, including Muslims, since we all worship the same God and therefore we should see every person on earth as a child of God. These are all great distortions of the true grace of God in Jesus.

When we cease to think like God thinks where His Son is the center of all things then we are corrupted in our thinking regarding heavenly realities. We lose sight of the great mystery of our own death and resurrection with Jesus and this great work of God through His Son is rarely mentioned. Our vital union with the person of Jesus is no longer the strength for all we do. The apostle Paul said that he was determined to know nothing among the saints but Jesus the Christ and Him crucified. The Son and His work. Paul said he was called by God to proclaim His Son to the world. Our primary message is not grace. Our primary message is Jesus. Only in Jesus can the true grace of God be revealed, understood and experienced unto life and holiness.

Jesus is our everything for God has made Him to be everything to us. Jesus alone is the center of all the circles. He is Lord of all. He is our bridegroom and He is our best friend. We can lay our head on His chest as the apostle John did and rest in His love for us personally. He knows our name. You cannot lay your head on a concept of grace. Grace is a person.

Seeing the reality of living in both heaven and earth through our union with Jesus is so key to understanding what it means to “walk in the Spirit” and Paul said walking in the Spirit is how we fellowship with God and overcome the flesh. Pretty important.

Most believers say that walking in the Spirit is yielding to the impulses of the Spirit within as He guides you in day to day decisions. They see walking in the Spirit primarily all about making godly choices and hearing God’s voice lead you. In many cases, that is really just a way to promote a life lived by principals and laws without saying so. That is an inferior view of what God really did through Jesus. Very inferior.

In reality “walking in the Spirit” is living on earth with the awareness that you are not from here anymore and you live in and from the realm from which you came. The heavenly realm. As Jesus said, “You are no longer from below (Earth) but now you are from above (Heaven).”

This is how our mind can set itself on things above and how we can look at the unseen. This is how the new world within us by union with Jesus is experienced personally and manifested visibly for others to see. This is how we can continually bask in God’s love as if from a light from another sun that shines on another world of blue skies and green meadows.

To be sure, a person who lives with the awareness that they are not from here anymore will make godly choices but those choices arise from a new insight and a new life deep within and not a mere mental choice to do what is right.

Jesus did not come to suffer and die and be raised again on that first Easter morning to merely help you make godly choices so you could have a good life. Jesus came to utterly end the human race which began with the first Adam and begin a new creation born in Heaven! Jesus came to take away the sin of the world so God could start over again. The apostle Paul said Jesus is the last Adam and the first glorified Man from Heaven for a new reality. To see this is to begin to understand what it means to “walk in the Spirit!” Anything less than this is just men playing religious games for financial gain in this world.

To see the new world in Jesus is totally life changing. Imagine a new world within you that is full of God’s love and peace and joy. Imagine that reality so filling you that it overshadows this present, visible world such that nothing in this world moves you from your place of rest and peace as a son or daughter of God, born in Heaven. This is the inheritance of the saints available now to be enjoyed because of the Door who is Jesus. This understanding is what “walking in the Spirit” is all about. This is the glad news of the Kingdom of God!

Consider what Jesus said again: “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” (John 10:9)

Most teach that Jesus is saying here that He is the only Door to heaven when our bodies die. And that is true. Gloriously true! Thank God there is a Door! God did not have to provide a Door, but He did. God so loved the world that He gave us a Door. But most do not know what to do with the rest of His statement. They who are His “shall go in and out, and find pasture.” Jesus is speaking of the use of “the Door” while we live now on earth and not just when our bodies die.

Jesus is saying that the believer lives in two worlds at the same time. In heaven and on earth. Just like Jesus. The believer finds “pasture” or nourishment and rest in another world, in heaven, and we bring that reality into this world, as we “go in and out,” so to speak. This is how Jesus lived every day and it is how the apostles and early disciples learned to live. The Spirit seeks to renew our minds to this new and living “Way.” The scripture speaks of angels ascending and descending on Jacob’s Ladder and then Jesus claims the same thing for Himself, clearly telling us that He is the reality of which Jacob’s Ladder spoke. He is the Door of Heaven! When angels ascend and descend from heaven to earth, they are still angels. We are the sons of God and we “go in and out” between heaven and earth and remain the sons of God.

In context, Jesus is speaking of His followers as sheep. What do sheep find in a pasture? They find grass to eat, or nourishment, and they lay down in pastures of green grass to rest. It is another world. His world. And that world is now inside of us who believe Him. He said that He gives to us His peace and His joy, not as this world gives. Only believe, Jesus said, and we will experience His new world within, no matter what trouble surrounds us in this world. This new world is the Kingdom of God within us through the Spirit. Jesus said that in this old world we would have trouble and pain, but that we can rejoice in it all because He overcame this world and brought us to His new world. Not just when our bodies die, but now.

Rarely, if ever, is this awesome truth taught to the church. But when it is explained to the bride of Christ, her heart leaps within for her Beloved and the Spirit bears witness to the truth. He is the Door not just for us after our body dies but now while we live on earth. Now we are where He is, seated in heavenly places together with Him, and now He is with us on earth, always, even until the end of the world. All possible because there is a Door.

In His world the great love of God continually shines upon us without hindrance or pause. He knows your name and He is for you and not against you. This is the glad news of the Kingdom of God! The miracle of Eden is here again on earth for all who believe, yet better! Eden was a place on earth where heaven and earth intersected. Where two worlds met. A place where God and men could walk together in the beautiful garden on earth. A place where the heavenly Tree of Life stood in all its majesty freely accessible by mankind. Where all things were on earth as they were in heaven. Eden is back because of Jesus, the true Tree of Life. Paradise is not lost. Let him who has eyes to see and ears to hear enjoy his inheritance now and forever. There is a Door.

The apostle Paul said that the believer now has the mind of Christ. That is an amazing statement. (I Cor. 2:16) That means that we can think the thoughts of Jesus which are the thoughts of God. (Contrary to Islamic teaching, Jesus was not just a prophet. He is God in the flesh and the teaching of the Koran is blatantly anti-Christ. Wake up Christians.) In fact, Paul said clearly in his letter to the Corinthians that the Spirit is given to the believer in Jesus so that we might know the thoughts of God. The unbeliever has not this capability. The apostle Paul said the unbeliever is “darkened in his understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is within them due to the hardness of their hearts.” (Eph. 4:18)

The good news of the Kingdom of Heaven is that it is here now for all who will believe that the death of Jesus, the Son of God, took away our sin. It is that simple. If you really believe and trust that Jesus is the Son of God and His death on the cross took away all your sin, including past sins, present sins and future sins, then you will be given the gift of the Spirit and be born new from above and be able to “see” the new reality in God called the Kingdom of God. You will not only “see” it but experience it within with the joy and peace of God.

The believer is a new creation with a new heart and lives in two worlds at the same time. We sit with Jesus in heavenly places at rest while we walk the earth. As Jesus is so are we in this world. The great mystery of our own death and resurrection through the death and resurrection of Jesus is the secret path to His Kingdom. To His invisible realm. To believe on Him and live in two worlds at the same time is truly awesome.

Some believers hear about the two worlds and about living in heaven while we walk the earth and they ask how can I do this? How does it work? I think we ask the wrong question when we say “How do I do this?” If we are asking the wrong questions then we will never get the answers we are really looking for.

It is primarily all about “seeing” the revelation itself. Jesus is the Door to a new reality in the Spirit and the apostle Paul said because the Spirit is within us then we can access and know that new reality. Paul lived in two worlds continually and that is the explanation for what and how he was able to accomplish so much during his time on earth.

The renewal of the mind such that we see as God sees and think like God thinks is a completely new way of understanding things. It is a paradigm shift of gigantic proportions for mankind. The Spirit brings us away from the thinking that originated from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil all the way over to a new way of thinking that emanates from the Tree of Life.

His ways are different from our ways like the heavens are high above the earth, but the believer is shown His ways and now His ways are our ways. One of the few things Moses asked of God was that God would show him His ways. Let him who has ears to hear, hear this: In God there is no time. When you live in the new reality, in the Kingdom of Heaven, you live in the end of all things, in the fulfillment of all things, and earth is the place where the glory of God can be manifested in time, day by day, for His glory. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

As we ponder these things we will find the peace and joy that Jesus promised and the answers to our prayers. We will find ourselves living in heaven while we walk the earth and men will see our good works of love and glorify our Father who is in heaven. To have the mind of Christ is a wonderful thing.

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 14, Jesus is recorded as saying that in His Father’s House are many dwelling places. He said He would prepare a place for us that where He is we would be also. That place He prepared for us is in Himself.

He said He would raise up the true House of God in three days. Jesus is the true House of God for which the temple made with stones was just a picture. We have become the living stones in the true temple by the Spirit. He prepared the place for us in Himself in three days through His death and resurrection and then returned to His disciples on the third day as promised and received them into Himself even as He imparted Himself into them by the gift of the Spirit.

Where is Jesus now? He is in Heaven. So joined to Him we are where He is now, in Heaven. Seated with Him in heavenly places. That is how Heaven can be in us now. Because we are one with Him, and because He is the Door and only Mediator between God and men, we transcend this realm and live in two worlds at the same time. We are where He is in Heaven and He is where we are on earth. Even as Jesus was one with the Father and lived in Heaven in fellowship with the Father while He walked the earth, so we also live in Heaven through union with Him and our fellowship is truly with the Father and the Son by the Spirit while we walk the earth.

As Jesus is, so also are we now in this world. (I John 4:17)

These are the deep things of God that only the Spirit can show us. The Spirit has been given to reveal the thoughts of God to us, the apostle Paul taught. God’s great love for us has accomplished what was impossible for man. His Kingdom has come in us who believe. Through Jesus we live now in two worlds. He said we have His peace and His joy now within from His world and not as this world gives. He is with us always and we are never alone. On earth as it is in Heaven.

It’s really quite fantastic when you think about what Jesus came to do and actually did.

Jesus began His public mission to mankind by announcing a new reality was here on earth and within reach for all people! He called this new reality the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven! This new reality was in Him and soon would be in all those who believed. Then He revealed the only way one could “see this Kingdom” was to be born from above or recreated new. What? That’s different! He referred to Himself as the Door to this new world. He said this new world was not coming like men think. He plainly said it would be inside of you. His heart’s cry was “on earth as it is in heaven.” All fantastic!

Then the mystery of His grace and the Kingdom of His Heaven slowly was revealed by Him through His teachings. Especially through His parables. He showed the legalists how the Law could never be kept by men and that angered the high achievers and the hypocrites. The secret was that God would take away the sin of the world in a day and open the Door that no man could shut. God would give His own righteousness to those who believe and forever end the question of whether or not a person was good enough for heaven. All who believe on Jesus would pass through the Door by the gift of the Spirit, passing from death to life, passing through judgment without being judged! A great mystery of a death and a resurrection through Him!

In this new reality, union with God becomes the every day experience. A new and living way was prepared by Jesus and now we are in the new reality and where He is always while we walk this earth, seated with Him in heavenly places! We live our lives now on earth from within for our life is now hidden in God with Christ and God is hidden in us through Christ.

No eye saw this! No ear heard this! No man imagined this! But the Spirit now reveals it all to us who believe! Behold the genius of God! Behold the great love of God! The believer lives in two worlds at the same time. Just like Jesus did when He walked among us. The good fight of faith is to reject the criticism, condemnation and persecution from this world because you belong to Jesus and embrace the words of your God who loved you and gave Himself for you.

Jesus cooked breakfast for Peter on a beach after His resurrection when Peter was frustrated from working all night and catching no fish and distraught about the death of His friend, Jesus. Two worlds. When Peter saw Jesus he suddenly caught a net full of fish and found himself talking with Jesus over grilled fish on the beach. Two worlds. See it? It’s yours. He came to give you the Kingdom. Enjoy. This is not theory. This is real. Find your beach. It’s waiting.

Do you see the picture of the two realities in that scene with Jesus and Peter on the beach? Moments before Peter recognized Jesus on the beach, Peter was tired and frustrated with no fish. Then he sees Jesus and suddenly he has a boatload of fish and he is so excited and energized that he jumps off the boat into the water and swims ashore to have a meal with Jesus on the beach. Two different worlds.

The sea and land (beach) symbolize the two worlds that exist at the same time and “parallel” to each other. Maybe that is one reason we are drawn to the beach. We step through the Door to the other side when we see Him. That invisible realm can reverberate into our seen realm and fill our boat with fish and bring joy to our heart. The Kingdom of Heaven manifests in this kingdom of darkness and men see God’s goodness. Jesus planned it that way.

Another picture of the two parallel realms is when Jesus walked “alongside the two disciples” on the way to Emmaus. He walked parallel to them on the same road. See it? The same road but those on that road were in two different worlds.

They could not see who He was at first. In the breaking of the bread their eyes were opened and they saw it was Him all along walking “parallel” with them. The Covenant meal is a bridge to the unseen realm of the Spirit because it reminds us that God is not counting our sins against us anymore because of the broken body and death of Jesus. With great joy they ran all the way back to Jerusalem to tell the others. Two worlds.

After His resurrection, when He appeared and disappeared to His own for 40 days, He was teaching them that He would be with them always even though they could not see Him with their natural eyes. Soon they would learn to live in two worlds at the same time and they did.

One day Peter said to a lame man, “Silver and gold we do not have to give you, but what I do have I give you: Be healed in the name of Jesus!”

The Gospels record that Jesus would often look up to the sky to pray to the Father or just rejoice with the Father. What did Jesus see in the blue skies and white clouds? Why would the Son of God find great pleasure in looking up to the skies? He looked up during the day but also at night. He gazed at the stars at night too. He looked at the same moon you and I see. Think about that. Jesus looked at the moon in the evening just like you and I. Same moon. Same stars. Same blue sky.

Why is this important? There is a reason why Jesus looked up to the skies above this earth.

When was the last time you looked up? When was the last time you stood in your driveway and stared at the magnificent stars twinkling above in the dark night sky before you went inside your home after a hard days work? When did you last look during the day at the majestic white clouds towering over you in the blue skies? Look up to the sky and ponder these things. To look up is a powerful thing for your spirit.

God made the visible to “reflect” the “invisible” to our spirit! Directly to our spirit. Directly. Bypassing the mind. Those who are born of Him receive His light from creation instantly to their inner man. It is an unexplainable insight into His love.

This is why people who do not yet know Him seek the outdoors and the awesome views of creation. This is why people love to look at mountains and streams and forests. This why they love to look at the stars. Many people hear His call when they look at His awesome creation but do not know that it is Him calling. He loves them. He made it all for them. He calls them.

When we look up to the skies we see how big He is and all our problems seem so small. It’s true. He is bigger than all our problems. Look up to the sky and see Him afresh. Look up to the sky!

The word “incarnation” actually means “to take on flesh” or “embody flesh.” This is what we celebrate every Christmas. Few people in this world think about this, but this is what Christmas is really all about. Christmas is all about remembering the miracle of God becoming a man.

God living in all His fullness in the fleshly body of man. Think about that. God became a man. And His name is Jesus. As the angel said, He shall be called “Emmanuel” which means “God with us!” That simple but profound thought will be a game changer in your mind. If you let that one thought in, and do not resist it, you will be changed. Over time, you will be changed. This powerful thought will lead to other thoughts. His thoughts. We humans seek to change our lives for the better all the time but the secret to real change begins with a thought that we never think: Jesus is God.

This is an event that actually happened on earth in a stable in Bethlehem, Israel. You can actually visit the place where it occurred! This actually happened. God became a man. To see Jesus is to see God. Think about that. We can look upon the face of God by looking at Jesus. Makes me want to read again the Gospels! The eye witness accounts of the words and acts of Jesus! Matthew, Mark, Luke and John! Read what the witnesses wrote with the mindset that you are watching God live as a man before your eyes. It will change your life.

The Word was with God “and was God” and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and glory.
The Incarnation. He shall be called the Son of God because He is the express image of the Father. To know Him is to know the Father. To see Him is to see the Father. To know the Father is life eternal.

Why did God come to us like this? Why did God become a man? He came to us that we might see what is invisible. He wanted us to know Him. God is Spirit and His Spirit took on flesh that we might see Him.

He also came to us as one of us so that He could die for us. He came to take away the sin of the world so that we could always be with Him. Not just know Him but also be with Him. Jesus is the Lamb of God that took away the sin of the world. He was born to die and He planned it that way. His death on the cross was the judgment of the world for all sin, but only those who believe in Him are released from their sin. Never forget that. He came for the world but only those who trust in Him will be forgiven and delivered out of this world. Apart from Jesus there is no hope of eternal life.

He wanted to be one of us so that we could always be with Him. This is the eternal purpose of The Incarnation. Jesus said to the thief on the cross at the end of His life as a man on earth, “This day you will be with Me.”

That is why He came. He wants you and I to always be with Him where He is. He prepared a place for us “in Himself” that we might always be where He is. He who is from above was born from below that we who are from below might be born from above. This is why we celebrate Christmas. This is why a star in the heavens above shone brightly over the place where He was born. This is why the heavenly realm briefly opened to natural eyes and ears and shepherds beheld angels and heard words proclaimed of a great joy that would be for all people because of this One who was born that night. Born. Think about it. The King of all kings. The Creator Himself. Born a man. The Incarnation. Awesome, awesome mystery!

Truly great is the mystery of our godliness! The Father in the Son and and the Son in the Father. And now for us who believe, the Son in us and we in the Son. Now we are one with the Father and the Son through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Wonder of all wonders! And how can these things be? Because He is Emmanuel! Jesus is God with us! We can only fall on our knees in awe of so great a love and say as Thomas said that day, when he touched the nail prints in His body, in His hands and feet: “My Lord and my God!”

The New Covenant brings us rest and it replaced the priesthood of the Old Covenant. This is huge. Priesthood is all about how to handle the problem of sin and man in his relationship with God. Priesthood is all about getting God and man together, in spite of man’s sin.

The Old Covenant priesthood could only cover man’s sins temporarily and God could only relate to man behind a thick veil. That all dramatically changed when Jesus came. Jesus is a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek pursuant to a New Covenant. This is really, really huge.

The Melchizedek priesthood is superior to the Levitical priesthood in that the Levitical priesthood, created temporarily under the law, could only “cover sins” through animal sacrifices but the Melchizedek priesthood has existed eternally, with no beginning and no end, and “took away sins” by the one sacrifice of Jesus, the Son of God, forever. In the fullness of time Jesus was born a man, under the law, to fulfill all law and open the door to the new, yet ancient, priesthood. For He is the Lamb of God slain from before the foundation of the world, yet not manifested to the world until the appointed time.

Because our faith is in Jesus, sin is no longer even counted against us nor remembered by God. What is counted for us is the righteousness of Christ as a gift and what is remembered by God is the great suffering and death of His Son.

Therefore there is no barrier ever between us and God as we walk the earth and especially when our bodies die and we leave this earth! This is the Gospel! The Good News! This is huge!!!

These are deep things that only the Spirit can show us. In our own minds with our own reasonings, we cannot see this or even imagine this. Religious thinking keeps us from grasping theses things. As Paul wrote, “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it ever been imagined by men what God would do through Christ!”

Paul in his letter to the Corinthians said the Spirit is given to the believer to show the believer the deep things of God. The deep things of God. Think about that. The Spirit is not given to show us the deep things in our flesh. The Spirit’s work is not to show the believer sin. The flesh has been circumcised by God and God no longer recognizes the old man. All of the Spirit’s energy is focused on opening the eyes of the new man. Jesus said the Spirit will show the new man what belongs to Him, to Jesus, and what now belongs to the believer who is joined to this Christ!

Think about the Spirit as One who takes you by the hand and leads you to the resurrected Jesus. He does not take you by the hand and lead you to where the dead old man is buried to point out all his sins.

The Spirit is within you, if you are a believer, and He will open your eyes to this ancient priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. Under the Old Covenant God related to man from behind a thick veil but now under this amazing New Covenant God is inside the believer. Think about that. God is inside you. All the time.

The new priesthood is a priesthood that God established with His own oath, swearing by Himself, since He can swear by no one greater, that Jesus is your High Priest forever after the power of His endless life! He swore by Himself so that you would never doubt Him about this.

And what does that really mean? It means that as long as Jesus lives then your sins will never be counted against you again. And that means never!

Only by knowing this can you enter the rest of God and cease from your own works to try to earn His love. Only by seeing this will His light dawn within you and you will see your union with Him. Only by believing this can you finally experience His peace.